PSA: Sugar Highs Are A Myth And Your Parents Have Been Lying To You

I grew up in a household where sugary cereal was treated like an illegal substance. If you brought any inside the house, you were in big trouble.

So, when I went to a friend's house, I would literally gorge on Cocoa Puffs.

Why were my parents so strict? Well, it's universal parent knowledge that sugar is basically a drug for kids; it makes them go nuts.

But, as it turns out, all parents who believe kids get a "sugar high" are wrong.

Kids eating sugar has more of an effect on the parents than the children themselves, according to research.

There have been several studies done on this, but here are some of the highlights.

A study was published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology in 1994, where researchers gave reportedly "sugar-sensitive" boys between the ages of 5 and 7 a placebo.

Half of their mothers were told the boys consumed sugar. The researchers sent the kids home and had the mothers watch them play.

And guess what? The moms who believed their kid had eaten sugar rated them more hyperactive because they were treating them like they were misbehaving. And that was just one study.

In 1995, researchers compiled information from 23 different studies and came to the conclusion that sugar doesn't affect the performance of kids at all. Take that, Mom!

Kids are going to believe what they're told, right? So their parents restricting them from sugar is just going to make them naturally more amped up around goodies, such as birthday cake and ice cream.

If parents didn't make such a big deal out of sugar, kids probably wouldn't give two shits about sweets.

OK, this obviously doesn't mean parents should be giving their kids sugary crap every day, as it does remain something to monitor, health-wise.

But they should definitely base their parenting practices on the actual actions of their children, not just what they're afraid will happen.

Dear parents, don't just assume your child will misbehave all the time if given some sweets. Let them live, and cross the misbehavior bridge when you get there, OK?

Even now, as a 24-year-old woman, I would love to sit in front of my mom and make her watch me devour one dozen doughnuts while I tell her she was totally paranoid about me becoming "hyper" after eating sugar.

Maybe I'll cancel my Saturday plans and do that, instead.

Citations: The Sugar High Is Actually Just a Parenting Myth (Science of Us)